HI I'M AMBER

I like being regular and pronounce it “regler.” If I can get to the keyboard quickly enough, I’ll write out of the holy, terrible, and fantastic regular. I like a little house and a big yard. I whirl from child to sink to garden to spill, but I love to steep in different cultures and countries, too. I love to travel. Most of all, I love to write. I never questioned what I would grow up to be. Learn More About Me »

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2 Ways to Make the World More Beautiful this Christmas

Some of our dearest friends have four beautiful girls. Their oldest girls are some of our amazing babysitters, and their youngest, her name is Olivia. Olivia is in glory. You can read about her here, how a young man drove through a pedestrian crosswalk and ended her life. It devastated our town, but I cannot express the beauty that has risen from such ashes. The only way to attempt this kind of expression is art, and Olivia, she loved art.

If my house were to catch fire, after grabbing my children, I would grab the few pieces of art we have on the walls. If art ever speaks and you get to bring it home, it seems to never stop whispering. If art is important like this to you, please consider this kind of gift that keeps on giving. Olivia’s Basket is actually an art auction on Facebook inspired by Olivia’s love of art, and some of the offerings are legit, totally gorgeous.

Follow them on Facebook and simply bid on the pieces in the photographs. Every bit of the money goes toward building a home for a family in need.

Step outside your own world; have a World Vision!

We’ve spent more time at home than ever before because of Titus’ illness, and I’m beginning to remember that a great deal of entitlement comes from the inability to see beyond your own nose. This season either brings us manger-low and into awe, or it awakens the inner-grumble and the sense of having earned more than what we’ll receive. I see it in my children, and I see it in myself.

Our world is small right now, so when we get the World Vision catalog in the mail and are able to see smiling faces from all over the world, it changes how we think we need things, how big we are in our britches. My oldest has a tender heart, so when I tell him that he gets to spend $40 however he wants to help others, he pours and pours over the pages. He lingers over the animals. We get to talk about income and what it takes to run a house and feed a family. We talk about how grateful others would be to simply have chickens. There’s no finger pointing or “what you oughta do’s.”

Spend time with your kiddos in the World Vision catalog. Open their eyes to how great big the world is, and how they’re just a tiny part being allowed to do things that impact other lives for good. It can be one of your most meaningful conversations, softening even your own stony heart. It can change the air in your home; it can change the world view of little girls in the Philippines, chickens scratching at their yards, eggs on their tables.

Story-Letter

A Haines Home CompanionThe Monthly Story-Letter

This letter is for friends, family, and fellow-writers and artists who like the quieter ways to engage online. I'll be one part goofy to two parts poetry. I'll share my story with you and hope you'll respond with yours, too.